


Gods and Oaths

by toli-a (togina)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Greek and Roman Mythology - Freeform, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 15:31:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6759628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/togina/pseuds/toli-a
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who knew, Bucky thought, that Tony's Roman counterpart could be even more attractive, and yet far less of an ass?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gods and Oaths

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was that Bucky and Steve were the same god, one from the Greek pantheon and one from the Roman, but I could find no god that fit both their personalities.

Bucky had really hoped that the trumpeting of the elephants would drown out the god of war, but it turned out that divine pomposity was even louder than the whinnying of war horses and the cries of wounded men.

“Horkos!” Tony shouted, stepping delicately around a fatally wounded elephant. For a god that was supposed to delight in bloodshed, he was awfully finicky about getting his sandals gory. “There you are!” He wrapped a sweaty arm around Bucky’s shoulder, nearly catching him in the head with the shield. “I did wonder when someone here would break an oath.”

“You smell,” Bucky informed him, and wriggled free of the other god’s battle armor.

“I smell like  _ glory _ !” the god of war corrected, and both Horkos and Pepper rolled their eyes.

“Remind me,” Bucky muttered to Pepper, who stood beside them, surveying the Romans crossing the Siris river. “How is it that a goddess of wisdom gets involved with this?” He gestured at Tony, who puffed out his chest and made his armor gleam with the light from Olympus.

“A tactical error,” Pepper said, and pulled a rock from the pocket tied around her waist, hurling it at a  _ daimon _ causing unnecessary chaos. “It was after an excellent victory, and he seemed …”

“Willing?” Bucky suggested.

“Irresistible,” Tony crowed, tossing his spear nonchalantly at an oncoming phalanx, just to watch the carefully ordered troops devolve into confusion. “Wait, who’s that? Is that their champion? No one told me the Romans had a champion!”

Bucky looked up, to the middle of the river where a crested helmet was easily visible over the heads of the Roman soldiers. No man was so tall, and no battle-hardened soldier had such flawless features, the muscles solid as granite beneath pale, unscarred skin.

“Not a champion,” Pepper exhaled. “That must be one of their gods.”

“Well, he’s doing a terrible job,” Tony sniped, folding his arms and creating a metallic clang loud enough to strike down the surrounding mortals. They all watched the pale, broad-shouldered god quietly direct unsuspecting mortals away from a nearly-ripe field of wheat, leaving them to their bloodshed on the muddy banks below. “What, is he the god of bread?”

Tony’s voice carried (to Bucky’s eternal regret), like the discordant clatter of a spear striking a shield, the frantic cries of a wounded beast. The Roman god turned to face them, with eyes the color of the clear sky above them, and strands of hair plastered to his forehead by sweat, a darker gold than the field of grain.

He marched toward them - without crushing any mortals, as Tony was wont to do - and stopped in front of Bucky. “You’re a god, aren’t you? I’ve heard tales of the Greek gods.” The Roman god removed his helmet, and ran a hand through his hair, as though he wanted to make a good impression. On  _ Bucky. _

Tony thought this was as ludicrous as Bucky did. Well, either that or Tony needed to be at the center of everything, whether it was a war or a conversation. “He’s a  _ spirit _ ,” Tony informed the new god, scowling. “A minor deity, maybe. I am Ares, god of war. Who are you?”

“I’m Steve,” the other god introduced himself, bowing slightly not to Tony, but to Bucky. Then he paused, and blushed, turning to glance at Tony and Pepper and bowing slightly deeper. “Or, uh - I am Mars, god of the earth in the spring, of fertility. And war.”

“Why can’t you guard spring?” Pepper asked Tony, which made the Greek god of war frown at his new rival. “Promote fertility, and bring me flowers.”

“I’m plenty fertile!” Tony snapped, his anger rumbling like thunder across the armies, bringing both sides momentarily to their knees.

“That’s Tony,” Bucky told Steve, since Tony and Pepper had decided to play their argument out on opposite sides of the battlefield, choosing their champions and the sacrifices to their fight. “He’s actually in a good mood. It’s been awhile since there’s been a really bloody war.”

Steve laughed, the sound rumbling through the soil like the march of a hundred men, yet as bright as bronze under Helios’ gleaming gaze. “I wish I could say the same,” he finally replied, looking sadly at the mortals spilling their life’s blood into the Siris, washing it into the sea. “But the blood nurtures the soil, and the soil brings the harvest that keeps them alive, so I suppose there is an order to these things.”

“Don’t tell my mother that,” Bucky warned, glancing around to make sure that Eris hadn’t overheard. “I’m Bucky, by the way. Er - sorry. I am Horkos, avenger of broken oaths, and that sort of thing. Mostly I end up in the same places as Tony, unfortunately - men tend to make promises over the hearth that they do not keep in the fight.”

He could feel the pull of it. There were perjurers here, men who had sworn bravery and now tried to flee, others who had promised to aid their companions, and now fought for themselves.

Steve could see the obligations tugging Bucky’s gaze away, or perhaps he felt his own mortals calling to him, just as their men prayed to Ares for a swift death, and never saw the kindness of his spear, its tip forged in volcanic flames.

“If you are often called to war,” Steve said, ducking his head like a child regretting a broken promise and not like a fearsome, battle-hungry god, “then perhaps we will meet again? Soon?” His flawless face went pink, and Bucky found himself smiling, a rare occurrence for the son of Discord and the brother of strife.

“Soon,” Bucky agreed, and clasped Steve’s forearm, felt the world shake beneath them. The earth, he knew, could always recognize an oath; and Bucky never made promises he couldn’t keep.


End file.
